After his secret debt negotiations last year with President Barack Obama sparked a sharp round of blowback from conservatives, his leadership and members of his House Republican Conference, Boehner has launched a carefully choreographed campaign on the high-stakes fiscal cliff talks.

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PHOTOS: Fiscal cliff's key players

The new strategy was unveiled Wednesday in the Rayburn Room of the Capitol. But before that, just hours after Mitt Romney lost his bid for the White House, Boehner sent a copy of his 11-minute speech to Rep. Paul Ryan, sure to be a conservative power center in the House Republican Conference. His leadership team got a peek as well.

“This is where I’m going,” Boehner told his leadership colleagues, according to sources familiar with the conversation. The message — there should be no surprises what he’s aiming for.

Boehner’s speech — there were 17 versions of it before the final draft — was read Wednesday from a teleprompter, almost unheard of for the off-the-cuff Boehner.

Every word seemed carefully chosen. Boehner quoted from the Bible, mentioned former Speaker Tip O’Neill’s famous tax compromise with Ronald Reagan and pleaded with Obama to lead.

Boehner sounds like a man ready to make a deal, but he has an excruciating negotiating task in finding something that somehow passes muster with an invigorated second-term Democratic president, a reinforced Senate Democratic majority and a conservative House majority.

Boehner said he was prepared to raise new revenue for the government — but not increase tax rates — as long as the White House would agree to entitlement reform. Republicans were “ready to be led,” Boehner said, attempting to shift the burden for what comes next squarely onto Obama’s shoulders.

Boehner’s and Obama’s 2011 talks over the $4 trillion “grand bargain” collapsed under the weight of mutual suspicion and distrust. Both sides blamed each other for the failure.

Now, Obama’s win has changed all of that. Taxes are set to jump on all Americans Jan. 1, providing a hard backstop for a deal. There is a new urgency among Republicans to reach some agreement with Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Boehner thinks he has more room to maneuver with his own colleagues, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who aides excruciatingly note is on the same page as the No. 1. He has laid out his principles in public. In the summer of 2011, Boehner was negotiating with a president up for reelection, a House filled with red-hot firebrands and a leadership team dragged down by internal staff warfare. This time, his party has suffered an electoral beat down and Obama has run his last campaign.

Boehner seems to have given up on repealing Obamacare — the birth moment for the tea party movement that propelled him into the speaker’s chair in 2010. He told ABC News on Thursday that “the election changes that” and “Obamacare is the law of the land.” His staff later softened that stance.

What John Boehner says today is subject to the demands of the Tea Party faction.

They have yet to speak. When legislation comes up, they will control the House. When negotiations are taking place, the extremists will control John Boehner. He will do nothing that is not approved of by the fundamentalist Tea Party members.

So, his words mean nothing until there is a reaction from the uber-right wing.

If they kick, John Boehner’s word isn’t worth a bowl of warm spit.

I suggest if he isn’t cool with being a beyatch for the Tea Partiers, he seek some allies and defeat them.

Just go over the tax cliff already so we can keep these morons from breaking their pledge to almighty Grover. Then we can start talking about which taxes to cut, as if the semantics really made a difference.

Democrats don't show up for mid terms. GOP should hold the line, demand OBCare repeal in trade for free contraceptivees. Get used to it Democrats...we got you GERRYMANDERED thru 2020....Check%&%ing MATE!

I suggest we all (especially angry veterans) tone down our rhetoric, and that Congress and the President both compromise to get a deal done. I say raising taxes on the wealthy is a necessity. Other kinds of revenue increase will be helpful, but in the end, not enough. At the same time, I think entitlement reform needs to be on the table. Either side can veto this so neither side should expect to get everything they'd like to.

@ VFWLifer: Completely unrealistic when it comes down to it. Obamacare is here to stay. Your recognition of that is honestly not significant. And to be fair, contraceptives are already covered by health insurance, so its not clear what your actually suggesting.

I don't sense that Boehner is particularly untrustworthy. I just think he has so far had a hard time controlling the right wing of his caucus. This is why the defeat the tea party took last Tuesday is hopefully significant. We need a compromise, and the tea party is so dug in that they can potentially really harm America if they remain entrenched in these negotiations. Also Grover Norquist should suck it.

Well,there is one adult Republican in the house. Congratulations, Congressman. Sounds grown up. Unfortunately, time will tell. I predict a grand slam year for Democrats year 2014. We'll play it again, Sam and win, guaranteed if the grand old party plays the game the same old way.

Well,there is one adult Republican in the house. Congratulations, Congressman. Sounds grown up. Unfortunately, time will tell. I predict a grand slam year for Democrats year 2014. We'll play it again, Sam and win, guaranteed if the grand old party plays the game the same old way.

Boehner joined his party in abandoning the country to focus for 4 years on ensuring the president served but 1 term. He and they exhibit no capacity to change their core belief system (politely); God was a white man and so should be our president. It is God's Will. The only thing that can subvert God's Will are the forces of Satan, so the end justifies all means.

Dupont-good news on the contraceptives now you don't have to worry about impregnating yourself when I send you on your way. Before you go you should know that there is NO WAY that TAX RATES will EVER be raised by Republicans.....consider it the law of the land...just like OBCare and your free contraceptives.

Called that one right: I hadn't even seen Boehner's latest TWTR on OBCare #Repeal AND not raising tax rates ( I though the Crying Game Speaker was looking for Christie's sloppy seconds on Obama) Guess I have some new found respect for him (he's still our weakest link).